Why Mark Zuckerberg Won’t Own the Metaverse

vrcoin on May 26, 2022

I can’t remember a period in my lifetime where the political and social conversation was more polarized. For every opinion, no matter how inane, you can find someone on the internet to vehemently disagree. However, one take is nearly universally endorsed across the sociopolitical spectrum: Mark Zuckerberg is not a force for good in the world. The recent news that Meta can take nearly a 50% cut of goods sold on Horizon Worlds, its metaverse platform, received widespread condemnation, uniting everyone from Fortune 500 CEOs, to left-wing Twitter, to whatever category Elon Musk falls into. The headlines hit many of the familiar talking points levied against Meta: greedy, hypocritical, unfriendly to creatives, and run by a cruel young cyber-monarch. But, more importantly, this news also sheds light on Zuckerberg’s troubling concept of the metaverse: a top-down, closed system controlled by a single organization. .ud361b6b33f4172bfc566fdcd954594e4 { padding:0px; margin: 0; padding-top:1em!important;

Lynx Says $4 Million Investment ‘Secures Our Supply Chain’ Ahead Of R-1 Deliveries

vrcoin on May 26, 2022

Lynx says it raised $4 million in a funding round ahead of delivery of its R-1 mixed reality headset.Lynx creator Stan Larroque posted  on Twitter about the funding, writing that “after our successful Kickstarter we’re now able to secure our supply chain completely and fulfill the insane demand we’re facing.” The highly anticipated system is based on the same XR2 chipset powering Quest 2 while providing full color passthrough for mixed reality/AR with an open air view of your surroundings. The sides can also be closed off for a VR viewing experience as well. Lynx recently showed off the hardware at GDC in San Francisco and confirmed to UploadVR Correspondents that backers could “expect the first headsets to come between June and July,” instead of the original April delivery target. The headset is also listed on the Lynx website for $599 with “delivery starting June 2022” listed. [embed]https://youtube.com/watch?v=4WfWEZY50Hg&feature=oembed&showinfo=0&rel=0&modestbranding=1&iv_load_policy=3&playsinline=1&enablejsapi=1[/embed]

Mental Health Awareness Month in XR

vrcoin on May 18, 2022

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and there are plenty of XR applications and outfits that deserve highlighting. We’ve teased out a couple of projects and products that deserve a closer look. Hit the Mind Gym in Virbela Virbela is an enterprise-first solution focusing on remote work and events through the use of shared or custom virtual campus spaces. However, they’re also very community-focused and create special “islands” on their open campus for various causes. In fact, their virtual library landed in our Black History Month roundup. This time, we’re highlighting a new experience, the “Mind Gym.” “I was talking with a colleague about Mental Health Awareness Month and how we could handle that kind of thing at an enterprise level,” Virbela VP of Community, Sarah Segrest, told ARPost in an in-app interview. “We kind of thought about a mashup of futuristic exercises and a mid-century style gym.” Modeled

The XR Week Peek (2022.05.16): Meta teases Cambria, Google shows new AR features, and more!

vrcoin on May 16, 2022

This has been a week full of interesting news. But before digging into them, let me show you the first episode of The Spatial Show, the comedy show about the metaverse organized by Ori Inbar in which I took part. If you watch the video, you can see me say stupid things about XR… well, more or less as I do every day in my life…  Have fun! Top news of the week (Image by Mark Zuckerberg)Zuckerberg teases Project Cambria Mark Zuckerberg has teased Project Cambria, the upcoming headset by Meta. In a video published on Facebook, he showed himself wearing the headset and let us also see what he was seeing inside, with some footage directly from his point of view. To hide the real appearance of the device, his face wearing it was pixelated: the most interesting things in life are always pixelated, as in the hentai movies. Zuck has also

The XR Week Peek (2022.05.09): Meta to release four VR headsets, NFT sales are going down, and more!

vrcoin on May 9, 2022

I feel better than last week, so I’m back to business with the usual newsletter. But I’ve still to fully recover, so every hug you send me is still highly appreciated!  I’m also sending good vibes to my friends in China who are facing lockdowns. I know the situation is not the best now, but I hope things will get better soon. I hug you. Top news of the week (Image from Reddit)Meta to launch four VR headsets before 2024 According to a report by The Information, Meta is going to launch four VR headsets from now to 2024: The first one is Project Cambria, which is going to be released this Autumn, probably at Meta ConnectThen there are two Quest headsets, codenamed Stinson and Cardiff, to be released in 2023 and 2024. One is probably the Quest 3, while the other is not clear if it is a higher-end version (Quest 3

The XR Week Peek (2022.05.02): Meta predicts the metaverse for 2030 and beyond, Snap launches a drone, and more!

vrcoin on May 2, 2022

I’ve been sick this weekend. I’m getting better, but I’ll need days to fully recover, I still feel like if I was hit by a train. I’m doing my best to work, and I don’t want you to miss this appointment with my news roundup, so I’ve prepared it the same… I just warn you that my usual commentaries will be shorter this time.  Send me hugs 🙂 Top news of the week Zuckerberg sets the Metaverse for 2030 and beyond The Zuck has had the hard task to speak with Meta’s investors and tell them that while the revenues of Reality Labs are increasing thanks to Quest 2, actually all the “metaverse” division is losing $3B a quarter. Zuck has explained to them to be patient because the Metaverse, which no one knows what actually is, is happening beyond 2030. So all these huge investments will pay off in the very long run.

On|Metaverse: The lessons I learned organizing a physical event about VR

vrcoin on April 29, 2022

On Thursday, April 21st, in Italy there has been the first edition of the On|Metaverse Summit, an amazing hybrid event of which I have been a co-organizer. It’s been the first time I worked on such an ambitious conference, so let me tell you something more about it and about the lessons I’ve learned in the process… especially for what concerns the differences between organizing physical and digital/VR events! (Yes, this is one of those days when I write a long informative post about a personal experience I had… have fun reading this during your weekend!)

The XR Week Peek (2022.04.25): Meta had its Quest Gaming Showcase, Pico may launch its “Cambria” in September, and more!

vrcoin on April 25, 2022

Today is a bit of a special day for this newsletter because this article you are reading is the 250th roundup about XR news I’ve written! If you make the calculation, it means that it is almost 5 years that every damn weekend I collect the best news of the week in AR and VR (and the “mmmmmmmetaverse”) and I organize them for you! If I think about it, I can feel all the fatigue and the time I spent in the process, but I’m happy doing that because I know it is useful to many of you from the XR communities. So, let’s make a little toast to celebrate this announcement, and… now let’s get back to work: what are the pieces of news I have selected for you this week? Top news of the week (Image by Meta)Meta announced interesting games at its Quest Gaming Showcase On April, 20th, Meta